BRIAN STEVENS, SCOTT KERWIN, PETE STEFANSKI, WAYNE CLOSE, AND ALEX MORRIS TAKE TOP HONORS AT THE BIG R
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(Helen and Alex Bruce Photos)
Flyin' Brian Stevens
Ransomville, NY.........Chalk one up to the racers as once again we foiled mother nature and completed last Fridays WLVL and Sports n Leisure night at Ransomville Speedway. The forecast was dismal but bright sunshine shown most of the day bringing out some ninety racers and a packed grandstands.
Brian Stevens of St. Catharines, Ontario topped the field aboard the Mighty Taco Modified feature main last Friday night. Stevens took control from Pete Cosco in the early going and held off persistent challenges from Scott Wood enroute to the win.
Rick Hoctor and Cosco shared the front row for the Modified feature go with Cosco taking the early lead. Ricky Richner moved into second followed by Stevens, Hoctor, and Mark Golding. Stevens took over the second position aboard his No Blanket Smoke Shop sponsored machine on lap two. Stevens wasted no time as he reeled in Cosco and took over the lead on lap five using the high-line. Cosco, Scott Wood, Richner, and Pete Bicknell rounded out the top five. Points leader Danny Johnson was running eighth.
Wood challenged Cosco for the runner up slot as Bicknell advanced to fourth. Great side by side racing was enjoyed by the fans as two grooves of racing was found through-out the pack. A four car battle between Richner, Rich Vinson, Johnson, and Robbie Krull for fifth resulted in three wide as they came off turn four and Johnson taking the position. Contact between Rob Pietz and Chad Brachmann on the back stretch resulted in Brachmann going around in turn three which brought out the caution.
Stevens chose the outside lane for the restart and maintained the top spot as Wood and Bicknell ran a tight second and third. Johnson moved into fourth and pulled in on the leaders as Krull emerged in fifth. Side by side racing for the top spots between Stevens, Wood, Bicknell, and Johnson kept race fans on the edge of their seats and the field got the half-way signal. Great run for Sportsman regular Stewart Friesen as he ran sixth in Dan Millers #22 entry. Krull continued his astounding season as he passed Johnson for fourth with ten laps to go. You could have put a blanket over the top three as they ran in a tight battle with just eight laps remaining. Stevens continued to show the way and captured his first checkered of the season followed by Wood, Krull, Bicknell, and Friesen. Johnson broke with just two laps remaining.
Scott Kerwin captured his third win of the season aboard the Original Pizza Logs Sportsman main last Friday night. Kerwin had suffered mechanical difficulties the past few weeks but had everything dialed in on Friday as he dominated the feature main and took a commanding win.
Kyle Inman and Sean Kott lead the twenty-two car strong Original Pizza Logs Sportsman field down for the green. Unfortunately for Pat McCoy it was very short lived as he ended up in the front stretch moat. Inman took the lead on the official start with Kevin Wills and Kerwin in tow. Kerwin was on the move early as he advanced to the top spot aboard his Mark Cerrone/Good Guys Transmission owned machine. Kerwin quickly put some distance between himself and the remainder of the field as Jeff McGinnis moved into second. Wills, and the Kott brothers rounded out the top five. McGinnis saw his second place run go by the wayside as he ended up in the front stretch moat after contact with a lapped car.
Kerwin led the field back to the restart followed by Scott George and Stewart Friesen. Kerwin kept up the quick pace as the final laps clicked away. George and Friesen not only battled for the runner up spot but for the points lead as well as they came into the night just one point apart. As Kerwin took the checkered, Friesen looked to the inside of George for second but lost the handle and spun. George held on for second followed by Wills, Dave Just, and Inman.
Pete Stefanski of Wheatfield, NY captured his third win of the season aboard the Bobcat of Buffalo ProStock class. Stefanski piloted the John Koeppen owned machine as he continued to suffer motor woes in his #2 entry. Stefanski took over the top spot on lap thirteen and led the remaining seven circuits to the checkered.
Butch Zimmerman led the ProStock main in the early going with Dan Mayer, Scott Gribben, Dan Shoop, and Dan Schulz following. The first caution flew on lap two for John Zimmerman who slowed on the back stretch. Zimmerman chose the outside lane for the restart but it was Mayer taking the lead. Roger Chrysler was on the move early and heading to the front but something went amiss on lap seven as he lost the handle and ended up off the backstretch. Chrysler was unable to keep the car down and headed directly across the track in mid-pack. Great driving…or perhaps just luck…but no one made contact and Chrysler was able to rejoin the pack unscathed.
Mayer chose the outside lane and maintained the top spot as Pete Stefanski advanced to second. Dave Schulz also joined the fray as he took over third followed by Mike Williams and Steve DeVos. The top five ran nose to tail as the race neared the half-way point. Stefanski looked to the inside of Mayer on lap eleven but it was Mayer hanging on. Stefanski continued to utilize the bottom side of the racing surface as Schulz ran a tight third. Lap thirteen found Stefanski with a nose ahead for the top spot as Schulz as looked for a way by. As the field got the five to go signal, the motor in the John Zimmerman machine went sour directly in front of the leaders. Unfortunately for Schulz, he got into the liquid, slid up the track and lost two positions in the process. Stefanski led the way on the restart and the remaining five laps to his third win of the season. Mayer, Schulz, Williams, and Devos rounded out the top five.
Wayne Close of Newfane, NY topped the first Clarks Burgerhouse Streetstock main last Friday night. Close took the lead away from Jaren Israel on lap eleven and went on for his first win of the season.
Bill Holtz and Dave Jowdy brought the field down for the start of the first Streetstock main with Holtz taking the early lead. Israel moved into second followed by Dan Baughman and Close. Israel and Baughman were on the move as they got by the #11 of Holtz for the top two spots by lap three. Jim Nashwinter decided to make it a three wide battle going down the back stretch forcing Holtz up high and into the guardrail. Israel chose the outside lane for the restart followed closely by Baughman and Nashwinter. Close and Shawn Graham rounded out the top five. Nashwinter made contact with the back end of Baughman on lap nine sending him around in the ring. Nashwinter suffered a flat tire as a result and headed pitside. Israel maintained the lead on the restart followed by Close, Graham, Joe Rickard, and Derek Boyle. Close continued to challenge Israel for the top spot and made the pass with an inside move on lap eleven for the lead. Close showed the fast way around through the final laps enroute to his first win of the season. Israel, Graham, Rickard, and Boyle rounded out the top five.
Alex Morris of Niagara Falls, NY took his fourth win of the season aboard the Clarks Burgerhouse Streetstock division. Morris used an inside move on the final lap to take the top spot and the win away from Webb Nashwinter.
Nashwinter took control of the second Streetstock main at the drop of the green followed by John Schultz, Morris, Eric Ben, and Lucas Jonathon. As the top five ran nose to tail, a side by side battle for sixth ensued between Digger Lester and Mike Short. Mechanical woes side-lined Jonathon on lap six as Nashwinter continued to lead up front. Lester headed pitside on lap ten as he was losing liquid. Nashwinter continued to show the way as he looked for his first feature win. As the white flag flew, Morris challenged on the bottom. The two went side by side through turns three and four as Roger Israel moved in to join the battle. At the line it was Morris taking the win over Israel, Nashwinter, Schultz, and Ben.
Ben Krentz captured an exciting win in the Spectator One on One Races.
Pitnotes…Welcome to Ricky Gorhan who made his first start of the 2003 season. Also…welcome to Kenny Washburn who debuted a great looking #07 in Streetstock competition. Sam Crogan was back in action after taking some time off. Great to see Andy Vargo make a special appearance at the big R as he was testing the surface for the up-coming Sportsman Nationals next Friday, August 8th.
WLVL & SPORTS N LEISURE SUMMARY:
CLARKS BURGERHOUSE STREETSTOCK FEATURE FINISH #1…WAYNE CLOSE, Jaren Israel, Shawn Graham, Joe Rickard, Derek Boyle, Steve Shoop, Joe Passero, Dan Baughman, Ken Washburn, Rick Gorhan, Dave Jowdy, Charles Harvey, Jim Nashwinter, Dave Stolzenburg, and Bill Holtz. Heat Winners…Wayne Close, Bill Holtz Jr., and Jaren Israel.
CLARKS BURGERHOUSE STREETSTOCK FEATURE FINISH #2…ALEX MORRIS, Roger Israel, Webb Nashwinter, John Schultz, Eric Ben, Matt Gillingham, Dave Nichols, Brian Sparks, Mike Short, Rich Lippart, Ron Seefeldt, Digger Lester, Kenny Brant, and Lucas Jonathon.
BOBCAT OF BUFFALO PROSTOCK FEATURE FINISH…PETE STEFANSKI, Dan Mayer, Dave Schulz, Mike Williams, Steve DeVos, John Panattoni, Dave Williams, Dan Shoop, Dan Schulz, Butch Zimmerman, Steve Lewis, Scott Gribben, Kevin House, Steve Miller, Roger Chrysler, John Zimmerman, Mike Martin, Sean Keus, John Koeppen, and Brett Martin. Heat Winners…Dan Mayer and Butch Zimmerman.
ORIGINAL PIZZA LOGS SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH…SCOTT KERWIN, Scott George, Kevin Wills, Dave Just, Kyle Inman, Rob Kott, Tony Purgarich, Sean Kott, Mark Potter, Jeff McGinnis, Stewart Friesen, Rob Winters, Dave Kubiniec, Pat McCoy, Mike Nash, Scott Just, Mark Schulz, Rick Schumacher, Herb Porter, Doug Coons, John Smith, and Andy Vargo. Heat Winners…Sean Kott, Scott Kerwin, and Kevin Wills.
MIGHTY TACO MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH…BRIAN STEVENS, Scott Wood, Robbie Krull, Pete Bicknell, Stewart Friesen, Ricky Richner, Rob Pietz, Randy Chrysler, Todd Gordon, Chad Brachmann, Jason Boyle, Mark Golding, Pete Cosco, Ed Cain, Rick Hoctor, Danny Johnson, Brad Rouse, Rich Vinson, and Sam Crogan. Heat Winners…Mark Golding and Ricky Richner.